Sen. Ed Murray comments to SGN as domestic partnership bill moves through committee

Sen. Ed Murray comments to SGN as domestic partnership bill moves through committee

by Nick Ardizzone - SGN Staff Writer In a press release announcing the passage of the new domestic partnership bill through the Senate Government Operations and Elections Committee on Thursday, Sen. Ed Murray issued a simple statement on respect and equality: "This bill is another necessary step toward giving couples who have built loving families and lives together legal protections and financial security that married couples are entitled to," he said. "Lesbian and Gay couples deserve to be treated equally - with not only rights, but with responsibilities as well." The Seattle Gay News wanted to dig deeper into the complexities of the bill, but time is a precious commodity in the Senator's hurried schedule. Even so, Murray was able to speak to us via telephone between sessions so we could find out what the bill's progress means to the GLBT community and what we could do to help. Bill 6716 expands both rights and responsibilities for registered domestic partners, mainly dealing with financial security, property rights, joint responsibility for debts and protection from having to sell the family home to pay for nursing home costs. Murray felt the bill's most important aspects were related to issues of community property, veterans' benefits, and nursing home visitations, though he also felt it significant that GLBT elected officials would be required to report their partners' incomes, "just like heterosexual legislators do," he said. When asked to expound on his strategy for the ultimate passage of the bill, Murray was concise. "The best - and really only - strategy is for Gay and Lesbian couples to tell their stories to their legislators," he said. "That's how we get votes: when people hear from citizens who work hard and pay their taxes and contribute to their communities and happen to be Gay or Lesbian, it changes votes every single time. We had very good hearings, and I think the hearings told a story." The bill has made it this far due in part to the strength of the testimony of the citizens supporting it, and no one understands the power of their words better than Murray. "Everyone has contributed and worked on it & everyone deserves credit," he said. "The couples who testified are more important than [State Representative] Jamie [Pedersen] and I," he added. The bill's progress through the committee bodes well, and Murray said Governor Christine Gregoire was "supportive" of the bill, but the actual vote won't take place for a while. "It's a leadership call," he said. "It could be any time between now and the end of the session. The earliest it could reach the House floor is probably two weeks away." Though the bill is nearing the House vote, the Seattle community shouldn't rest on their laurels. Murray had some suggestions for what supporters of the bill could do. "Never take a liberal for granted," he cautioned. "They should contact their own legislator from Seattle. Let them know how important it is. Also, think of who they know outside of Seattle, and ask that family member or that friend to contact their representative or their senator in support of the bill & we need people to write to newspapers, to come out to their families, and for families to come out to their elected officials and tell the story of their relationships." His brief break from session over, Murray emphasized the power of community to spearhead new movements. "We know that when we came out as individuals, we changed the world." he said. "Coming out as couples will change the world again, and that's the most important thing we can all do to make this legislation a reality."

Real Estate: How to sell your home in a tight market

The housing market has gotten off to a rocky start in 2008 and American homeowners are wondering what the future has in store for the real estate market. With more than 4.2 million homes currently on the market and more to come as spring "selling season" arrives, home prices are falling to entice buyers to get off the sidelines. Buyers, of course, are drawn to houses offering the best deal for the money. With home prices threatening to go lower or, at best, remain unchanged, many home sellers are concerned about selling their home for less than it was worth just a year or two ago. Add to that the fact that real estate agents typically eat up five to six percent of a home's sales price, and that's even less money that will go to the seller. This probably explains why many sellers are choosing to forgo working with an agent and save on commission, allowing them to price their homes more competitively. There are now more people using ForSaleByOwner.com, the nation's largest Web site for these home sellers, than at any other time in the company's history. There's big money to be saved. An analysis performed by the company found that real estate agents and brokers collected $55 billion in commissions in 2007, an average of $13,900 per home sold. People like Joseph De Luca of Enfield, Conn., question the wisdom of paying so much when, with a little effort, he could do the job himself and save thousands of dollars. "An agent is going to market the home by putting a yard sign out front, posting an ad on the Internet and holding a few open houses. Why pay a five or six percent commission when I can do that myself," asks De Luca. Instead of spending thousands on an agent, he invested $249 to market his three-bedroom home on ForSaleByOwner.com. DeLuca's listing package included a guidebook to selling your own home, and other resources to walk him through the entire real estate process. He also received a ForSaleByOwner.com yard sign that signaled potential buyers to view his home on the Internet, and a home appraisal report that compared his home to others in the area and gave him market information so that he could price his home accurately. De Luca noticed that similar homes in his neighborhood were listed at more than $340,000 and hadn't moved. Figuring that he was saving on commissions, he sold his house for $335,000 within 45 days. Had he gone with a commissioned agent, it would have had to sell for $355,000 in order for him to pocket the same amount. "I'll never use a real estate agent again," De Luca proudly says. Another ForSaleByOwner.com customer, Bruce Brandywine of Tampa, Fla., attracted a buyer who saw his online ForSaleByOwner.com property ad and toured it during an open house that he hosted himself. "Who knows my home and can possibly explain its features and attributes better than myself?" he asked rhetorically. To close the deal and give him piece of mind that nothing was overlooked, he hired a real estate attorney to handle all of the necessary paperwork. Brandywine is not the only one choosing to skip the "middleman." ForSaleByOwner.com estimates that "for sale by owner" sellers saved almost $9 billion in home value during 2007. "The real estate market is expected to be tough for at least the first half of 2008, so we expect more people will avoid using a commissioned agent in order to price their home competitively and save more of their home's value." says Eric Mangan, director of consumer relations at ForSaleByOwner.com. Whether you're planning to sell in the near future, or are looking to buy, log on to www.ForSaleByOwner.com for the help you need today. Courtesy of ARAcontent